Hi guys and gals
I have found a current report for you all.
Monday January 20, 02:42 PM
Firestorm razes 400 ACT homes: four dead
A 73-year-old Duffy man was identified as the fourth person to have died in ferocious bushfires that ravaged Canberra at the weekend, destroying up to 400 homes.
He died in the Duffy fires, which destroyed 185 houses.
"It's believed he died in his home trying to fight off the fires," an ACT police spokeswoman said.
Police said that at least 368 homes were destroyed in the fires, but that figure is expected to rise above 400.
Authorities admitted they were helpless to prevent the firestorm which engulfed parts of the city's western and southern suburbs, overwhelming the national capital's meagre firefighting resources.
"It simply ran over the top of us," said ACT Chief Minister Jon Stanhope.
More than 300 people were treated for fire-related injuries at the Canberra Hospital, with three people evacuated to Sydney for treatment for serious burns.
Cooler and calm weather gave firefighters some respite today and enabled authorities to declare all fires under control by 4pm.
But the state of emergency remained, with higher temperatures over the coming two days threatening a repeat of Saturday's disaster.
Among the casualties was the historic Mt Stromlo astronomical observatory, where fire largely destroyed the 79-year-old facility, causing an estimated $20 million damage.
Large parts of the ACT RSPCA's shelter in Weston were also destroyed but staff managed to save most of the animals.
Extra firefighters were being brought in from NSW and Queensland to help combat the ongoing fires.
Prime Minister John Howard cut short his holidays for a briefing on the disaster and to visit those who lost their homes.
He held talks with Mr Stanhope and promised federal disaster relief funds would be made available.
"I have been to a lot of bushfire scenes in Australia ... and this was by far the worst," Mr Howard told reporters.
The ACT government has pledged $10,000 assistance for people who lost uninsured homes.
As people returned to their burned homes on Sunday, many expressed anger at the lack of support from ACT fire crews, who were overwhelmed by the blaze as it raced into suburban areas.
Most people were forced to fight the fires with garden hoses and buckets of water, as fire crews were unable to attend all the areas under threat.
But Mr Stanhope told reporters emergency services did all they could but had no way of stopping the disaster.
"We were faced yesterday with an event that would happen perhaps once every 100 or 200 years, the like of which has never been seen in Canberra," he said.
Mr Stanhope said the ACT urban fire service had only 12 tankers at its disposal, which would normally be enough to fight six house fires simultaneously.
But they would have needed up to 800 fully staffed fire trucks to have saved all the houses.
"It was a holocaust of an extent that we simply did not and could not possibly have had the capacity to deal with," Mr Stanhope said.
http://mediastream.aap.com.au/20030120/BushfiresACTStanhope.asf
I hope the short cut works..
If it doesnt go to http://au.news.yahoo.com/030120/2/ivye.html
Kelps